Imaging devices are frequently used in many aspects of business, industry and academic endeavors. The term “imaging,” as used herein, should be interpreted broadly to include any process for producing a copy of a document onto paper, a computer screen, an electronic image, or the like. Examples of imaging devices include printers, facsimile devices, copiers, scanners, display monitors, multi-function peripherals (MFPs), imagesetters, platesetters, filing devices, web publishing devices, and so forth. Documents which are sent to a printing device for printing are sometimes referred to as print jobs.
Printers (one kind of imaging device) are used with computers to print various kinds of items including letters, documents, pictures, etc. Many different kinds of printers are commercially available. Ink jet printers and laser printers are fairly common among computer users. Ink jet printers propel droplets of ink directly onto the paper. Laser printers use a laser beam to print. Many imaging devices can generate scanned image data. For example, some imaging devices include scanners which can scan a document to provide scanned image data. It is also possible that an imaging device may be able to read scanned image data from a storage device. There may also be other ways in which an imaging device may be provided with or otherwise obtain scanned image data. Copiers and facsimile devices are also commonly used imaging devices.
In certain computing environments, it is desirable to track information that relates to each task performed at the imaging device. The information that is tracked may be used for a variety of reasons. One use of tracking information is to determine the cost and administer a pay-per-use system along with the imaging device. In some libraries and universities, imaging devices have some type of pay-per-use device attached to the imaging device to facilitate payment for any copies before copies are made.
When a pay-per-use operator places an imaging device for pay-per-use access, the operator often desires a single means for implementing the pay-per-use interface to the imaging device for all imaging operations. Traditionally, pay-per-use has been limited to walkup copier devices. These copiers are controlled by an external coin-operated (or other access control box) box that interfaces with a vendor specific interface on the device. Most pay-per-use systems are not able to track all types of functions that may be performed by the imaging device. In addition, many are unable to provide sufficient detail with respect to measuring the amount of use. Therefore, there is a desire for a more effective system and method for providing a vendor interface for an imaging device to administer a pay-per-use system.